The company said it has shopped the police vehicle around to 48 states and already has 18,000 reservations. But without the loan, the project is in limbo.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu was in Indianapolis on Monday, but he wouldn't specifically talk about the Carbon Motors loan, RTV6's Derrik Thomas reported.

"We still support the program. We want to move forward on that, but we still have a responsibility to taxpayers," he said. "We need to makes sure there is a reasonable chance of repayment."

Connersville's mayor wants a definitive answer about the loan.

"I would tell Secretary Chu we deserve that. We have put millions into it ourselves, and 33 months of our time," said Mayor Leonard Urban. "We are picking ourselves up by our bootstraps and trying to make our unemployment better, just like the president says we're supposed to."